If you have a disability, I guess you would feel like you are always fighting a battle when in a disability care system. This is not a battle that everyone expects you to have about your struggles or disabilities, no… this is one of the battles that you may hide.
I’m talking about the battle between your independence and chance to grow with your abilities against your disability and people’s expectations of you. Before I continue, I will say that the reason I know these feelings all too well is because I have lived with Cerebral Palsy for my whole life, which is 33 years.
As you may be familiar with, it feels like there always is a constant battle going on between my disabilities, people’s assumptions about me and my strong desires to be identified and grow as a typical woman. This comes in many forms from people commenting on my love life to random in-home care services and support workers commenting on the state of my house. One of the first times when I noticed this battle for me was when I moved into my Supported Independent Living apartment and realised soon after that I was spending days panicking about my floors being a little bit dirty because some disability support workers were coming in and complaining about them. That was until I asked myself would this happen in any abled woman’s apartment, why should I have this pressure and judgment just because I happen to have a disability service and rely on people NDIS support services coming in and out of my house.
I guess these reasons are why I and so many others feel it’s so Important for especially people with disabilities to express their independence, choice, control and identity as typical teenagers or adults. So, I encourage you to try to maintain these things in as much of your life as possible whether it’s choice in what you wear or choosing to move out, remember that you have every right to maintain your identity, choice and control no matter how severe your disability is or how loud those negative judgements around you are, we are all equal human beings.
By Gretta Serov
Big thanks to Gretta Serov for sharing this insightful article! It offers valuable perspectives that prompt us to reflect on our practices and strive for improvement.
As a NDIS Registered Provider, Home Caring focuses on providing personalised supports for individuals in their homes. Our aim is to empower individuals by maximising their choice and control over their support services and in all other areas of their lives.
Please email us today and one of our wonderful Relationships Managers will contact you shortly rm@homecaring.com.au or put in your referral using this form and we can begin the journey together today.
